We crawled when asked to bend

Mahesh Bhatt / TNN / Nov 12, 2005, 01:34 IST

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I couldn't help but be reminded of those terrible times that we faced when Abu Salem ruled every moment of our lives.

MUMBAI: Call it chance or sheer coincidence. At exactly the same time that the news of Abu Salem and his girlfriend, Monica Bedi, being extradited to Mumbai flashed on my TV set, a scene of actor Shiny Ahuja being arrested by the Indian intelligence was being shot in Seoul in South Korea.
The strange part is that Shiny is essaying the role of a gangster of the same name in my film that is loosely based on Abu Salem's life!
I couldn't help but be reminded of those terrible times that we in Bollywood faced when Abu Salem ruled every moment of our lives.
The helplessness of my fraternity worsened by its tendency to crawl when asked to bend had filled me with disgust and still continues to haunt me.

What amused me was that even now, in spite of him being put behind bars by the intelligence, the politics of silence continues in our film industry.
I know that tonight many of us will sleep in peace and heave a sigh of relief at the thought that justice may finally be done, but I also know that there are a few who will from here on spend sleepless nights, fearing that their ties with Salem will be out in the open.
The time is here for them to face the consequences of their actions. As you sow so shall you reap. But it would be foolish on our part to believe that with the arrest of Abu Salem, urban terrorism has come to an end in Mumbai and India.

There is no denying that the investigative agencies are in an advantageous position to go for the jugular of the underworld than they were earlier.
But let us warn all those who are in charge of the case that criminals like Salem have deep pockets to subvert our system and wriggle out of the dragnet that surrounds them.
So before we uncork the champagne, let's make a commitment to ourselves that we will deliver justice to those hundreds of people who lost their lives in the 1993 bomb blasts and those who are victims of his bullets.
But let us ensure that we give him and his girlfriend a fair trial because that is what a civilised society is all about.

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